Search app

That decision to develop a mobile search app (Project Dragonfly) for China is hugely controversial, as it opens the firm up to allegations of supporting state censorship.

And it seems that staff at Google are a tad concerned about the development, after Reuters reported an internal petition from “hundreds of staff” calling for more transparency and oversight of the project.

“We urgently need more transparency, a seat at the table and a commitment to clear and open processes: Google employees need to know what we’re building,” states the document seen by Reuters.

Many staff feel that the development of the controversial app would violate Google’s “don’t be evil” clause in its code of conduct.

Whether Google could or would launch search in China “is all very unclear,” Pichai said, according to the transcript of the meeting seen by Reuters. “The team has been in an exploration stage for quite a while now, and I think they are exploring many options.”

“We’ll definitely be transparent as we get closer to actually having a plan of record here” on Dragonfly, Reuters quoted Pichai as saying on the transcript. He noted the company guards information on some projects where sharing too early can “cause issues.”

Google has declined to comment publicly on the matter.

Project Dragonfly

It is understood that the Chinese search app is being tailored for the Android operating system.

Google has reportedly demonstrated the service to Chinese government officials, but the app would still require Chinese government approval before it could be launched in that country.

The search app is said to automatically identify and filter websites blocked by China’s ‘Great Firewall’.